Various forms of fruit picking equipment heretofore have been designed. Some fruit picking equipment merely includes vertically and horizontally shiftable platforms from which workmen may be supported and the platforms may be moved about a tree in order that the workmen supported therefrom may pick fruit from the tree. Other forms of fruit pickers have included vacuum snouts which may be swung into position to suck fruit from fruit trees and still other forms of fruit pickers include mechanical pickers for engaging and either pulling or stripping fruit from fruit trees. Various examples of some forms of the aforementioned mechanical fruit picking equipment including some of the general structure and operational features of the instant invention are disposed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,485,024, 3,517,496, 3,543,492, 3,552,107 and 3,810,351. The picking equipment which utilizes manual pickers has become prohibitive from an expense standpoint, vacuum actuated pickers are difficult to manipulate and are also expensive from a labor standpoint and most forms the more economical mechanical pickers which engage and pull or strip fruit from fruit trees have not reached a state of development wherein damage to the fruit trees is maintained at a minimum. Accordingly, a need exists for an economical mechanical fruit picker which may be utilized to effectively pick fruit from fruit trees and which will inflict minimum damage to the fruit trees.